I used to work at Sylvan Learning Center as a tutor. While I was there I tutored a set of siblings (girl-high school age; boy-middle school age) who were homeschooled. Their mother served as their primary teacher. The young lady was being tutored in algebra, geometry, and study skills. She told me that her mother was not comfortable with some of the higher level math and also wanted her to learn some techniques for studying (I tutored her in study skills). The young man needed help with reading. Apparently the mother wanted to boost his reading rate. I was his reading tutor and we worked on building his comprehension skills.
I questioned them a lot about their experience and whether they liked it or not. The young lady said she enjoyed the fact that she didn't have to get up every morning and head out to the house. She had just as many friends and events to attend just like she probably would have if she was in public school. She also liked taking art classes at an art school. She participated in sports with other young people who were apart of a homeschool association and she was taking piano and violin lessons.
Her brother, on the other hand, told me that he missed attending school on a daily basis. He said that he liked the idea of learning at various times of the day, but he missed his friends from school.
All in all, I would say that both of them were very well-rounded. I would guess that homeschooling is good for some. I think it all boils down to how it is done. The mother of these two recognized some areas of weakness and decided to pursue some outside help that she couldn't provide.
